Business Desk :
The leaders of the Solar Minigrid Association of Bangladesh (SMAB) have wanted logical compensation as the entrepreneurs of the sector are counting loses due to start of supply of electricity in the off-grid area.
The leaders came up with the demand at a press briefing at the Dhaka Reporters’ Unity (DRU) in the capital on Wednesday.
They said solar mini-grid in char isolated off-grid areas have been suffering an uncertainty to pay the loan as they face loss due to reach grid-power in that area as the government’s policy implementation delayed.
They alleged that Prime Minister Sheik Hasina instructed Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority’ (SREDA) one a half-year ago to prepare guidelines to take over the world bank funded solar mini-grid project under government responsibility considering the earlier policy to guarantee the investment.
After the Prime Minister’s instruction, a committee was formed, but the committee yet to formulate guidelines as well as policy for takeover the responsibility of investment in the off-grid solar energy projects.
An uncertainty grip on the World Bank-funded loan project to enhance renewable energy supply due to begin the electricity supply in the mini-grid covered areas by the REB.
Though the government signed deals with the solar power producers’ to set solar energy panels and distributed renewable energy in the off-grid areas for 20 years, the REB started to supply the electricity in that area.
As a result, people are switching to low-cost grid-power a connection from the costly solar power systems. The entrepreneurs set up 26 solar mini-grid projects borrowing from the World Bank, but now the big volume investment has fallen in uncertainty.
It is learned that with the encouragement of the government, the journey of solar mini-grid has been started to provide electricity to households in remote char areas, islands, and hills where it is difficult to get grid electricity.
About 26 mini-grids have been set up in the last decade. Their combined generation capacity is about 5MW. Entrepreneurs started the work of setting up a mini-grid for 20-year with the consent of REB, PDB and the Ministry of Power.
They set up a mini-grid with a loan from the World Bank-funded Infrastructure Development Company (IDCOL).
